By: Beau Boughamer
Last night Larry King interviewed philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry and her husband, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). Teresa Heinz Kerry was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, so a great deal of their conversation dealt with health care. It included a discussion of the important role of health centers.
KING: How much did you have (INAUDIBLE), Teresa, would cost — you didn’t pay for it, right, in insurance?
T. KERRY: We paid some. But I have insurance. And —
KING: How many people have what you have and don’t have insurance? We don’t know.
T. KERRY: Well, I don’t know that. But —
J. KERRY: About 50 million people who don’t have insurance — 47 million.
T. KERRY: Yes. And — but one of the things they’re trying to do with a women’s health bill — I mean, the women’s portion, which Olympia and (INAUDIBLE) wrote, is to cover all women for mammograms and —
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Right now they’re not covered?
T. KERRY: Not all women, no.
J. KERRY: Not necessarily. It depends on your —
T. KERRY: No. Now there are free clinics and even buses in places in — where you can go in and get it done. I mean, I like the Bernie Sanders community health care, he wanted $10 billion for community —
J. KERRY: Community centers.
T. KERRY: — centers.
(CROSSTALK)
T. KERRY: And I’ve visited a lot of those in Iowa, in Washington, and all over. And Louisiana had an amazing community health centers. And they are a very intimate, good personal place where local people can go for very —
KING: We still have a long way to go, though.
T. KERRY: And they pay for your drugs for almost — almost completely, because they’re subsidized by the government.
KING: One more —
T. KERRY: But we have a long ways to go, yes.